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PREFACE 

fms  sketch  of  my  brother, 
General  John  Sedgwick, 
was  written  several  years 
ago  for  General  Thomas  W.  Hyde, 
who  was  at  that  time  proposing 
to  write  a  more  extended  life  of 
him,  but  who  became  too  busy  in 
actual  work  for  his  country  to  ac 
complish  it.  General  Hyde,  whose 
death  has  occurred  while  this 
sketch  is  passing  through  the  press, 
was  one  of  my  beloved  brother's 


20124Q3. 


staff  officers.  My  purpose  was  es 
pecially  to  write  of  some  of  the 
more  personal  and  less  generally 
known  incidents  of  my  brother's 
life. 

As  some  of  my  friends  have 
wished  me  to  publish  it,  and  es 
pecially  one,  Mr.  Carl  Stoeckel, 
who  has  made  it  possible  for  me  to 
preserve  it  in  a  printed  form  as  a 
souvenir  to  my  friends,  I  herewith 
dedicate  it  to  him  and  to  them,  as 
a  record  of  a  noble  life  of  a  man 
who  died  for  his  country. 

EMILY  SEDGWICK  WELCH 


SEDGWICK  was  born 
in  Cornwall,  Connec 
ticut,  September  13, 
1813.  He  came  of  good  stock, 
and  had  the  rich  inheritance  of  a 
noble  ancestry.  He  was  of  the 
sixth  generation  from  Major  Rob 
ert  Sedgwick,  who  was  the  first 
progenitor  of  the  family  in  this 
country.  Robert  Sedgwick  emi 
grated  from  the  northern  part  of 
England  in  1636,  and  settled  in 


Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  held  various  offices  of  trust, 
hoth  civil  and  military,  in  the  Col 
ony.  He  represented  the  liberal 
Puritans,  and  was  opposed  to  the 
prevailing  intolerance  of  the  times. 
In  1655  Cromwell  appointed  him 
to  an  important  service  in  the 
West  Indies,  but  he  soon  fell  a 
victim  to  the  climate,  and  died  in 
Jamaica,  May  24,  1656.  His 
family,  consisting  of  three  sons, 
remained  in  this  country.  In  the 
third  generation  from  him  was 
Benjamin  Sedgwick,  who  removed 
to  Cornwall  Hollow  about  1748, 
and  purchased  all  that  "  little  val 
ley  surrounded  by  natural  walls," 
of  which  his  descendants  have  al 
ways  owned  a  large  part.  He 
2 


died  at  the  early  age  of  forty-two, 
leaving  six  children.  His  eldest 
son  was  General  John  Sedgwick, 
who  retained  the  place.  The  sec 
ond  son  was  the  Honorable  Theo 
dore  Sedgwick,  who  settled  in 
Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts. 
Both  he  and  his  descendants  were 
noted  in  the  political  and  literary 
world.  Miss  Catherine  Sedgwick, 
an  author  of  considerable  repute 
in  her  time,  was  his  daughter. 
The  eldest  son,  General  John 
Sedgwick,  was  the  grandfather  of 
General  John  Sedgwick,  the  sub 
ject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  an 
officer  of  some  distinction  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  He  was  or 
dered  to  join  his  regiment  at 

Ticonderoga   in   1775.     The  first 
3 


General 


night  after  he  left  home,  his  house 
was  burned,  the  dastardly  work, 
it  was  supposed,  of  incendiary 
Tories.  He  was  called  hack,  and 
within  a  week  a  new  frame  was 
raised  on  the  site  of  the  old  house, 
when  he  rejoined  his  regiment. 
This  cowardly  act  so  exasperated 
every  loyal  man  in  the  vicinity 
that  he  worked  "  with  a  will,"  and 
the  urgent  necessities  of  the  family 
were  supplied  until  the  house  was 
ahle  to  shelter  them;  and  then 
this  was  furnished  by  their  gener 
osity,  each  man  bringing  his  share 
for  the  purpose. 

General   Sedgwick   also    "hut 
ted  "  with  General  Washington  at 
Valley  Forge  during  the  memor 
able  winter  of  1777. 
4 


It  has  been  said  of  my  brother 
that  when,  as  a  young  boy,  he  was 
asked  his  name,  he  would  reply, 
"General  John  Sedgwick,"  and 
this  has  often  been  told  of  him  as  an 
evidence  of  his  early  martial  spirit; 
but  I  think  it  was  because  he  con 
sidered  the  title  as  a  part  of  his 
name,  always  having  heard  his 
grandfather  called  "the  General." 
His  entering  the  army  was  the 
result  of  circumstances  rather  than 
from  an  inherited  or  natural  fond 
ness  for  the  profession.  He  was 
never  considered  in  the  family  as 
in  any  way  remarkable.  He  was 
a  robust,  manly  boy,  who  could  al 
ways  be  trusted — whose  word  was 
never  questioned  —  of  indomitable 

will  and  fiery  temper  —  and  one 
5 


who  was  specially  beloved  in  the 
family.  He  was  possessed  of 
wonderful  magnetic  power,  which 
always  made  him  a  leader  among 
his  young  associates,  carrying  his 
points  by  love  and  fear.  He  was 
my  special  delight  and  admiration, 
as  he  was  always  my  sworn  knight 
and  defender  in  all  the  combats  in 
cident  to  a  family  of  children.  I 
have  heard  my  mother  say  that 
when  I  was  born  it  was  said  to  him, 
"  Now,  John,  you  have  a  sister," 
implying  that  my  elder  sister  be 
longed  to  an  older  brother,  and 
that  he  never  seemed  to  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  I  was  specially  in 
trusted  to  his  care.  My  earliest 
recollections  of  him  are  his  draw 
ing  me  to  school  upon  a  hand-sled, 
6 


and  wheeling  me  around  upon  a 
wheel-barrow,  and  always  tipping 
my  sister  over  if  she  usurped  my 
place.  I  also  recollect  how  my 
hens'  nests  were  always  mysteri 
ously  filled  with  eggs,  so  that  I 
might  triumph  over  the  same  sis 
ter.  These  things  may  seem  trivial 
and  even  ridiculous,  but  I  mention 
them  to  show  how  intimately  we 
were  drawn  together  in  our  ear 
liest  years.  And  the  bond  thus 
early  formed  was  only  strength 
ened  up  to  the  fatal  day  of  May 
9,  1864. 

Thus  quietly  and  uneventfully 
passed  his  childhood.  But  as  he 
grew  into  manhood,  he  became 
restless  and  his  ambition  led  him 

to  desire  a   different  life  from  a 

7 


farmer's.      His  father,  not  being 
able  to  give  him  a  classical  educa 
tion,  which  he  desired,  secured  his 
appointment  to  the  Military  Acad 
emy  at  West  Point,  mainly  through 
the   influence   of    the   Honorable 
Jabez  Huntington,  who  was  United 
States  Senator  from  Connecticut. 
His  preparation  to  enter  the  Mili 
tary   Academy   must   have   been 
limited,  for,  according  to  my  recol 
lection,  he  never  attended  any  but 
our  common  district  school,  except 
ing  for  a  few  months  at  a  time  an 
academy  in  a  neighboring   town, 
Sharon,  Connecticut,  until  he  was 
sixteen  years   of  age.     He   then 
taught  school  for  two  successive 
winters,    and  his   family   thought 
that  his  schools  were  more  noted 

8 


for  his  scholars  having  a  good  time 
than  for  any  literary  advancement. 
During  the  summer  seasons  he 
worked  on  the  farm.  After  he 
received  his  appointment  to  West 
Point  he  attended  school  for  some 
months  preparatory  to  entering 
there.  He  must  have  been  poorly 
prepared,  however,  as  the  examin 
ing  hoard  told  him  that  it  would 
be  of  no  use  for  him  to  remain,  as 
he  could  never  pass  the  second 
examination,  even  if  he  did  the 
first.  But  his  indomitable  will, 
strong  intellect,  and  cool  head  did 
him  good  service  then,  as  after 
wards,  and  he  was  graduated  in 
July,  1837,  as  Second  Lieutenant 
of  Artillery,  twenty-fourth  in  a 
class  of  fifty. 

9 


He  immediately  went  into  ac 
tive  service,  and  from  that  time 
he  was  always  at  his  post.  He 
first  went  to  Florida  in  the  Semi- 
nole  War,  and  in  1838  was  with 
General  Scott  when  the  Cherokee 
Indians  were  removed  across  the 
Mississippi.  From  there  he  was 
ordered  to  the  northern  frontier 
during  the  Canadian  rebellion. 
In  1846,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Mexican  War,  he  was  sent  to 
Texas  under  General  Taylor,  and 
he  afterwards  served  under  Gen 
eral  Scott.  He  was  at  the  capture 
of  Vera  Cruz,  and  engaged  in  all 
the  battles  in  the  valley.  He  was 
brevetted  a  Captain  at  Cherubusco 
and  a  Major  at  Chapultepec.  He 
commanded  his  company  and  was 
10 


distinguished  in  the  attack  upon  the 
San  Cosmo  gate  at  Mexico  City. 

o  » 

He  was  made  a  full  Captain  in 
December,  1848,  and  assigned  to 
Duncan's  Battery,  Light  Artillery. 
He  commanded  this  hattery  until 
1855,  when  he  was  appointed 
Major  in  one  of  the  new  regiments 
of  cavalry,  and  was  ordered  to 
Kansas.  He  remained  there  dur 
ing  the  disturbance  hetween  the 
pro-slavery  and  free-soil  parties 

V 

until  Decemher,  1856,  when  he 
obtained  a  furlough  and  came  to 
Cornwall,  where  he  remained  with 
us  until  after  the  death  of  our 
father,  early  in  March.  The  tie 
between  father  and  son  was  unu 
sually  strong,  and  it  seemed  to  us  a 

special  mercy  of  God  that  he  was 
11 


permitted  to  minister  to  his  fa 
ther's  comfort  during  the  last  weary 
months  of  his  life.  It  was  only 
two  or  three  days  before  his  fa 
ther's  death  that  his  leave  of 
absence  expired.  He  then  imme 
diately  returned  to  his  post  at  Fort 
Leavenworth. 

During  the  summer  of  1857  he 
had  command  of  a  reconnoitering 
expedition,  consisting  of  four  com 
panies,  three  hundred  and  twenty 
strong,  with  a  train  of  fifty-six 
mule-wagons.  He  went  up  the 
Arkansas  River,  six  hundred  miles 
across  to  the  South  Fork  of  the 
Platte,  to  join  Colonel  Sumner. 
They  marched  over  eighteen  hun 
dred  miles,  and  suffered  innumer 
able  hardships.  They  had  one 
12 


quite  severe  engagement  with  the 
Indians.  At  one  time  they  were 
obliged  to  live  twenty  days  on 
fresh  beef  that  had  been  driven 
over  fifteen  hundred  miles,  and 
without  any  salt.  They  were  all 
summer  without  tents,  with  but 
little  bedding  and  few  clothes  (I 
copy  from  his  letters).  He  men 
tions  some  sport  in  killing  the 
buffaloes,  which  they  encountered 
more  than  a  thousand  in  a  herd. 
They  had  a  large  variety  of  game, 
which  would  have  been  a  great 
luxury  with  the  accompaniment 
of  salt,  butter,  or  vegetables.  He 
returned  to  Fort  Leavenworth  for 
the  winter  of  1857  and  1858. 

In  the  summer  of  1858  he  was 
ordered  to  Utah,  and,  as  nearly  as 
13 


General 


I  can  learn  from  his  letters,  he 
spent  the  time  marching  and 
counter-marching  between  Fort 
Eiley  and  Fort  Laramie,  accom 
plishing  about  as  much  as  the  King 
of  France  when 

"  With  twice  ten  thousand  men 
He  marched  up  the  hill 
And  then  marched  down  again." 

The  winter  of  1859  and  1860 
seems  to  have  been  divided  be 
tween  the  two  forts  —  Riley  and 
Laramie. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1860 
he  had  command  of  an  expedition 
against  the  Kiowa  Indians,  which 
involved  much  marching  and  dis 
comfort,  without  achieving  any 
material  results.  He  mentions  one 

14 


slight  engagement  with  the  Kio- 
was,  killing  two,  taking  sixteen 
prisoners,  with  forty  horses,  and 
destroying  their  plunder.  After 
marching  hundreds  of  miles  on 
their  way  hack,  they  were  ordered 
to  retrace  their  steps  and  establish 
a  military  post,  to  be  called  Fort 
Wise,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pike's 
Peak.  There  they  had  to  build 
their  quarters  for  the  winter.  He 
writes,  "  Such  buildings  are  never 
seen  in  the  East.  No  boards, 
shingles,  or  floorings  or  windows 
are  to  be  used.  Thick  stone  walls 
laid  up  in  mud,  eighteen  feet  wide 
and  more  than  a  mile  long,  with 
dirt  roofs,  are  to  be  our  habitation 
this  winter.  The  doors  will  be 
beef  hides,  straightened  on  frames, 

15 


General 


windows  the  same,  to  be  taken  out 
for  light  when  the  weather  will 
permit."  He  actually  spent  a  large 
part  of  the  winter  in  tents.  Un 
der  date  of  November  17,  1860, 
he  writes,  "  The  last  mail  brought 
a  complimentary  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  War  extolling  our  en 
ergy  and  perseverance.  I  had 
previously  written  to  Washington 
that  if  Providence  had  not  fa 
vored  us  more  than  the  Depart 
ment,  there  would  have  been  in 
tense  suffering  here  this  winter." 
During  that  campaign  he  often 
expressed  disgust  for  the  service, 
and  a  determination  to  resign  his 
commission  the  following  spring 
and  spend  the  remainder  of  his 

days  at  his  old  home  in  Cornwall. 
16 


But  he  was  so  far  away  that  he 
did  not  know  of  the  excitements 
and  mutterings  which  were  agitat 
ing  the  political  world  at  the  East 
— the  forerunner  of  that  dreadful 
conflict  which  was  so  soon  to  hurst 
over  the  country,  and  which  cost 
him  his  life.  The  firing  on  Fort 
Sumter  in  the  spring  reverberated 
even  to  that  distance,  and  as  a 
man  of  honor  he  felt  that,  edu 
cated  at  his  country's  expense,  he 
could  not  desert  her  in  her  hour 
of  need.  He  was  soon  ordered  to 
the  East  to  take  his  part  in  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and 
like  an  old  war-horse  he  straight 
ened  himself  for  the  conflict,  with 
what  results  the  different  engage 
ments  in  which  he  took  a  com- 

17 


manding  part  will  bear  witness. 
The  tale  is  told  in  the  battles  of 
the  Peninsula  and  Antietam,  where 
he  received  dangerous  wounds  and 
had  two  horses  shot  under  him, 
at  Fredericksburg,  by  the  phe 
nomenal  march  to  Gettysburg,  and 
in  his  last  campaign  under  Gen 
eral  Grant,  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  when  he  rallied  his  dis 
heartened  men  by  the  touching  ap 
peal,  "Follow  Uncle  John,  boys," 
until  the  fatal  ninth  of  May,  1864, 
when  he  made  his  crowning  sac- 

o 

rifice  for  his  beloved  country. 

"  Duty,  stern  daughter  of  the 
voice  of  God,"  was  always  his 
watchword.  When  he  heard  her 
voice  he  was  ready  to  follow. 
What  he  was  ordered  to  do,  he 

18 


did  cheerfully,  with  the  unflinch 
ing  and  unquestioning  obedience  of 
a  good  soldier.  And  he  always 
exacted  a  like  ohedience  from  his 
men,  which  resulted  in  the  perfect 
discipline  and  success  of  the  fa 
mous  old  Sixth  Corps.  During  his 
long  term  of  service  he  had  hut 
three  furloughs.  He  combined 
great  tenderness  with  great  sever 
ity  of  character.  He  would  he 
moved  to  tears  by  a  tale  of  suffer 
ing,  especially  of  those  he  loved. 
But  no  quarter  would  be  given  to 
any  soldier  who  was  guilty  of  a 
mean  or  dishonorable  action,  or 
who  dared  to  disobey  his  orders. 
I  cannot  refrain  from  giving 
some  more  of  the  private  incidents 
of  his  life,  as  they  illustrate  some  of 

19 


the  noble  traits  of  his  character. 
In  the  year  1852,  his  father  hav 
ing  become  somewhat  financially 
embarrassed,  and  also  blind,  he 
generously  consented  to  take  the 
old  homestead  upon  his  hands,  and 
from  that  time  his  heart  always 
seemed  to  be  there.  It  was  sanc 
tified  to  him  as  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  by  the  toils  of  his  father 
and  his  grandfather.  No  hills  or 
mountains  seemed  to  him  so  beau 
tiful  as  those  which  encircled  his 
own  farm,  and  he  was  always  antic 
ipating  the  time  when  he  would 
be  able  to  resign  his  commission 
and  return  to  spend  the  evening 
of  his  days  in  the  home  he  loved 
so  well.  He  always  expressed 
the  desire  to  be  buried  among  his 
20 


own  people.  Thank  God,  that  wish 
was  granted  him ! 

Upon  taking  the  homestead,  he 
made  every  effort  in  his  power  to 
improve  it.  In  the  summer  of 
1858  he  made  extensive  improve 
ments  of  the  house.  In  the  winter 
of  1859,  on  the  22d  of  February, 
it  was  burned,  and  with  it  the  ac 
cumulations  of  years:  everything 
he  had  sent  home  from  Mexico,  a 
valuable  library,  and  family  relics 
which  no  money  could  replace. 
My  mother  and  I  were  occupying 
it  at  the  time,  and  I  can  never 
forget  with  what  anxiety,  amount 
ing  almost  to  anguish,  I  looked 
forward  to  the  first  news  from 
him.  It  almost  seemed  as  if  he 

might  blame  me  for  such  a  catas- 
21 


trophe,  and  I  was  so  sordid  as 
to  regret  the  money  which  had 
just  been  expended  on  the  place. 
But  my  plummet  had  not  sounded 
the  depths  of  his  noble  nature.  He 
at  once  reassured  me,  and  said, 
"I  am  glad  that  we  had  done 
so  much  for  the  dear  old  home," 
as  if  it  were  a  sentient  being 
grateful  for  every  dollar  that  had 
been  expended  upon  it.  He  at 
once  applied  for  a  leave  of  ab 
sence,  but  as  he  was  expected  to 
take  command  of  another  expedi 
tion  the  following  summer,  he  could 
get  only  thirty  days.  He  declined 
to  accept  it,  as  it  would  leave  him 
so  little  time  at  home.  But  upon 
application  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  explaining  the  circumstances, 
22 


he  got  leave  for  six  months.  He 
reached  Cornwall  Hollow  early  in 
May,  and  the  following  day  com 
menced  preparations  to  rebuild, 
which  resulted  in  the  present  house 
upon  the  same  site,  and  of  the 
same  size,  as  the  home  which  was 
hurned  in  1775.  He  returned  to 
Fort  Riley  late  in  the  autumn  of 
1859.  When  he  departed,  his  house 
was  enclosed  and  partly  plastered, 
and  it  was  left  in  my  hands  to 
finish.  He  never  saw  it  until  after 
the  hattle  of  Antietam,  when, 
being  badly  wounded,  he  came 
home  to  recuperate.  After  he  had 
looked  the  place  all  over,  inspect 
ing  the  stables  which  had  been  re 
built,  the  grounds  which  had  been 
graded,  and  the  garden  blooming 

23 


Centra! 


with  flowers  as  if  to  welcome 
their  chief  home,  I  said  to  him, 
"  Does  it  please  you,  John  1 "  He 
replied,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  "  I 
should  he  very  ungrateful  to  you 
if  I  were  not  pleased,  hut  I  would 
gladly  give  it  all  up  for  the  dear 
old  home."  And  that  was  John 
Sedgwick,  unswerving  devotion  to 
the  things  he  once  loved.  He 
stayed  with  me  for  nearly  three 
months,  and  it  always  has  heen 
a  comfort  to  me,  in  the  pleasant 
and  stormy  days  I  have  passed 
through  since,  that  as  he  took  me 
in  his  arms  for  his  final  embrace, 
he  said  that  the  days  he  had  spent 
with  me  then  had  heen  the  hap 
piest  of  his  life. 


24 


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